A Sinister Turn
by Michael Weyer
Summary: My version of the last precredits scene of X3. Magneto and Mystique meet again only to have a new figure offer them what they've lost. All comments welcomed!


A Sinister Turn

By Michael Weyer

This just popped into my head as I was leaving the theater and I dashed it out at once. Obviously spoilers for X-Men the Last Stand. Hope you enjoy, all comments welcome.

"You shouldn't try that. Pawn to Bishop Four would be better."

His hand hung over the piece as he heard the voice. Even without the odd echo, he knew who it was. He slowly looked up, his features calm behind his hat. "Raven."

"Erik." Like him, she emphasized what both would have termed their "slave names." She sat across from him, dressed in a rather stylish suit that offset her sleek body. Her hair was still the short black cut he'd seen that horrible moment on the prison truck before he left.

"How did you find me?" he asked.

She looked around the park. "It wasn't too hard. Chess was always a passion with you. I figured you wouldn't stray too far from San Francisco after what happened." She gazed at him carefully. "What are you doing for work?"

"Unloading fishing boats," he said, unable to hold back a tiny smile, knowing full well how ironic it was. "The pay is poor but they keep to themselves and it keeps me out of the public eye."

He moved a piece and looked up at her. "I must say, I'm surprised to see you here. I would have thought you would be back in prison. Or did your criminal record get wiped out along with your true heritage?"

She ignored the shot, her face steady. "It's funny. I mocked humans and their laws so much but as it turned out, the government is quite open to cutting a deal if it means turning evidence against the most wanted mutant terrorist on the planet."

He smiles. "So…you're how they found our camp. I guessed."

"And that surprised you?" Her face hardened. "I saved you, Erik. And that wasn't the first time, either. I got you out of prison before. I gave everything for you. I've killed for you." She shook her head, fighting back tears. "And after all that…you threw me aside just because I wasn't a mutant."

"I'm well aware of the irony, Raven," Magneto snapped. "If you came here expecting an explanation…"

"Oh, no, I know why," she responded. "I didn't at first but…I know. It's your way, Erik. Anyone who isn't a mutant and doesn't stand with you is an enemy. I was the former, if not the latter."

Erik made a move with a bishop. "You are like me now then. Trying to find a place in the world."

Raven looked around once more. "I've been wondering. How is it no one recognizes you? How can you avoid the government agents? Or the X-Men?"

Erik smiled sadly. "To look at me now is to see a weak old man, not the mutant terrorist who would never bring himself down to speak to humans, let alone work with them." He studied the board. "I do suspect Charles' students have spread the story I died in the battle. There was so much chaos there, they could easily…persuade the government I was one of the countless soldiers and mutants who were scattered into ash by Phoenix."

"Why?" Raven asked, honestly baffled.

Erik shrugged. "Perhaps they fear having me put on trial will simply reignite the old tensions and hatreds. Perhaps they believe it's far worse a punishment to make me live like this." He moved another piece. "Or perhaps they think Charles would prefer it this way."

Raven scoffed. "They oversee government-sanctioned de-mutating and they still hold themselves to morals."

Erik tapped a piece on the table. "So why are you here, Raven?"

She glanced about before leaning in. "I want to help you, Erik. What was done to us was…inhumane."

He smiled. "An interesting choice of words."

She continued. "You have to listen, Erik. After I turned evidence I was approached by someone. Someone who can help us."

He glanced at her. "Please tell me you didn't come here to recruit me for the Department of Mutant Affairs. Surely you haven't fallen that far, child."

She shook her head. "Not the government, Erik. Someone with power. Someone who believes in us and our cause."

"Cause?" He sniffed. "We have no cause, child. We are no longer mutants. The…government…" He was going to say "humans" and checked himself, realizing that epitaph no longer applied. "Has seen to that."

She smiled. It was that smile she's used to often, the sultry, knowing smile when she had something big to share. "You can't change nature that easily, Erik."

He froze as it hit him that her voice once more had the echo. As he stared, her eyes shifted back to its natural yellow irises. At the same time, her hair flashed, briefly becoming long and blonde, then the slick red and back to black. He stared, for one of the few times in his life shocked speechless.

"Genetics," a deep and rich British accent suddenly interjected. "It's a field science is still trying to understand. It's a field of nature. And like anything regarding nature...just when science thinks they know the answers, nature shows them how little they truly know."

Erik turned his head to see a man who had seemed to appear from nowhere. He was dressed in a long and flowing blue coat that hung like a cape, over a well-pressed and expensive suit. His face was pale, almost pasty white and his eyes were the blackest Erik had ever seen. He wore a dark fedora over his slicked black hair.

"Mr. Lensherr," he continued as he took a seat. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance at last. Allow me to introduce myself." He held out a gloved hand. "Nathaniel Essex."

Erik stared at the hand, then at Mystique. "How?" It was more demand than question.

Essex smiled. "The problem with the government is that they always think the first time something works, it's perfect. In this case, it wasn't."

"Dr. Rao was one of the top leaders in her field," Erik argued. "A genius."

"I'm smarter," Essex said. It wasn't said as a boast, just a simple statement of fact. "Plus, I have had…far more experience than her." He smiled as if enjoying a private joke.

Erik looked back at Mystique. "So the cure…"

"The suppression depends on the subject's power," Essex stated. "For most younger mutants, yes, it is permanent. Particularly if those mutants have tried to shy away." He thought briefly. "That girl you tried to use, Rogue? The very nature of her power kept her from using it often and thus the cure will work with her.

"However, for those who have been experienced in their abilities and have used it as long and as often as you and Mystique…you can't just completely wipe out all that DNA, Mr. Lensherr. It's still there, waiting for someone to retrigger it."

"And you can do that," Erik marveled.

Essex nodded to Mystique. "Ask her."

Erik looked at her, then to Essex. "And is this the part of the tale," he began in a dry voice, trying to keep his excitement at bay. "In which the broken man is offered a chance to get back what he lost?"

Essex chuckled. "I can assure you, this is not Faust, Mr. Lensherr. I am not seeking your soul. I simply wish to give you back what was taken from you so you can continue to preach your message."

"He can do it, Erik," Mystique whispered, reaching for his hand. "We can be our true selves again."

Erik looked at her and made that humorless smile. "So she is the serpent and you hold the apple." He looked back at Essex. "I'm a good judge of character, sir, so I know you are not doing this out of the goodness of your heart. What is the price?"

Essex glanced away. "Let us say my…backer has a use for you."

"Ah, the penny drops," Erik noted. "Sir, I am no one's slave or servant. I am not going to allow myself to be dictated to by anyone."

Essex looked at him, his eyes suddenly cold. "What you are is a survivor, Magneto," he hissed. "Trust me when I say that something is coming that will change the course of this planet forever, for human and mutant. Only the strong will survive. And those who do will be able to rebuild a brave new world. One in which we can rule."

Erik stared at him. Something told him this man meant his words and what was more, he could back them up. He stared at the pieces before him, his fingers flexing. He took a deep breath and let it out. "I suppose you knew my answer before you came, didn't you?"

Essex smiled a bit more warmly. "I suspected you would see our way."

Erik nodded. "Very well then, Mr. Essex-------"

The man held up a hand. "Please, Magneto. Like you and Mystique, I dislike having to answer to my slave name."

"Then, Mister….?"

Essex smiled as he pushed his hat back and revealed what looked like a purple diamond marked into his forehead. "Sinister."

Magneto made his dry smile once more. "Mister…Sinister. How inventive."

Sinister bowed his head. "Thank you. If you like, we can leave for my lab now and I promise you, by tonight, you'll be back at the top of the evolutionary heap."

Erik put on his coat as he prepared to leave. "Your…backer must be a brave man, Sinister," he remarked. "How does he know I won't repay his charity by testing my reacquired might on him?"

"If you did not have that intention, you would not be worthy," Sinister stated as he rose. "He is sure once you hear our plans, you will be ready to stand with us and rebuild the New World."

"You truly believe he can change the world that way?" Magneto asked.

Essex smiled but it was without humor. "Oh, I don't believe, Mr. Lensherr. I know." He leaned in and when he spoke, Erik could not suppress a chill running up his spine.

"Apocalypse is coming."

**END CREDITS**


End file.
